COMMENT: RTÉ needs to play to its strengths

THERE has been much to love about RTÉ’s television output recently.

The ‘RTÉ Investigates’ special on the waiting list scandal was public service broadcasting at its best, while Katie Hannon’s ‘Prime Time’ report on the Tusla link to the Sergeant Maurice McCabe saga was an exceptional piece of journalism.

Claire Byrne’s Monday night programme has also become compulsive viewing for news junkies.

In terms of news and current affairs content, RTÉ is hard to touch. Its independent competitors would argue that this is due to the fact that they are heavily subsidised by the licence fee. That may well be true but credit where it’s due.

While it’s safe to say that RTÉ has something of a mixed track record with comedy, there have been some improvements in this area. The quality of many of the sketches on ‘The Republic of Telly’ was top notch, which makes the decision to axe the show difficult to comprehend.

In the grey area occupied by so-called reality TV, the national broadcaster has acquitted itself well with shows such as ‘First Dates’ pulling in impressive viewer figures. It even has the rare distinction of being better than the British version it’s based on.

But the jewel in the crown of the schedule this year has been ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’. The format of the show is brilliant in that the presenter doesn’t know the identity of his guests until they appear on the set.

But what really sets it apart is Tommy Tiernan himself, who infuses every interview with genuine warmth and empathy. Even the more obscure guests appear more interesting in the company of the comedian, unlike normal RTÉ chat show formats where Z-list celebs are wheeled out to plug their latest book, album or reality TV appearance.

There were genuine laugh-out-loud moments, too, such as when Tiernan described Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains as Peig Sayers’ husband.

Meanwhile, ‘The Late Late Show’ continues its slow, painful descent into the gutter, reaching its nadir with the St Valentine’s special this month. RTÉ received complaints about the show’s vulgarity but I was just offended by how bad it was. 

Surely it’s time that this weekly cringe-fest is put out of its misery for good, or at least reformatted into a shortened version that is subject to more quality control; a less is more type of approach. 

It’s a long time since the world’s longest running chat show was groundbreaking television. When Gay Byrne was at the helm, it created watercooler moments before we even knew what watercoolers were. 

Remember the nation’s shock when Uncle Gaybo showed us what a condom looked like? Now there’s a hamper of them for everyone in the audience.

It’s not the fault of affable presenter Ryan Tubridy; the format of ‘The Late Late Show’ has just become jaded and predictable.

RTÉ needs to play to its strengths. Moving ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’ to a Friday night slot would be a good start.